On Thursday our stage 3 group are leaving for Hungary. We are going to be driving down to Romania first and staying there for about four days and then driving back to Hungary for the rest of the two weeks. There are about two healing retreats on this trip and a few conferences. I am going to be teaching on forgiveness at a youth conference in Hungary and I am so excited!!! The challenging part about that though, will be that I will have a translator and will have to remember to speak slowly and clearly for them. It is going to be colder there than it has been here in England, which I'm not looking forward and I'm wondering how I am going to fit a whole bunch of sweaters into a small suitcase. We are traveling with an airline called Wizz.... which sounds kinda sketch to me but we will just pray to have a safe flight. 

So there will be alot of traveling and ministering and spontaneous last minute things too, but the leaders gave us an information book on the trip and it says in large bold letters "BLESSED ARE THE FLEXIBLE" so I just really hope this group will be able to lift each other up and encourage each other rather than drive each other crazy. Please pray for unity in our team, warm places, and an understanding from the people because most of them don't speak English.

I did a teaching today on the foundations of our christian faith. I spoke for 20 minutes and I had a lot of fun doing it. I have discovered that I have a very unique teaching style that makes people laugh. My reviews have mostly all been "You are quite random" and "You would be really good at teaching a group of young people" so I suppose that is good because I work with youth at home anyways. I never would have thought I could speak for so long and actually feel comfortable being in front of a group of people. Normally my body and my voice would be shaking but today I had a weird amount of confidence. It is so exciting because I really want to teach. Not just in a youth or church setting but I think it would be really cool to actually look at that as my career. God has got some good stuff in store for me!

I did my first ten minute teaching on thursday. It actually only ended up being about 8 minutes but I really enjoyed it. I talked about the parable of a dog that ate a rabbit and then threw it up all over my youth pastors living room floor. I had to give a health and safety warning before i started for those who have weak stomachs but it just made everyone laugh which I loved. On wednesday we have another ten minute teaching but this time it's supposed to be on a healing retreat topic which is alot less exciting. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.
I've also discovered the joys of Settlers of Catan and Monopoly Deal with my new friends. It feels like a whole different Pierrepont with the new stage starting. I guess that's another reason why they call it Never Ever The Same.

I like stage 3 way better than the other two stages. We have been doing a lot of interactive activities like team building and sharing in front of the class. We've only done one minute sharing so far but on thursday we all have to give a ten minute talk and in a couple weeks we have to teach for twenty minutes on one of the healing retreat topics. I haven't decided which one I will do yet... probably an easy one like forgiveness or acceptance and belonging. I'm only a little bit nervous but I'm more excited because I think my comfort zone levels have been gradually stretching over time and I feel more confident to speak to a group of people. 

I'm in a dormitory now instead of a room and there are five of us girls with three empty beds for whenever we have something happening on the weekend and the guests need somewhere to sleep. My roommates are from England, Italy, and Syria. We all get along really well. I have been so blessed to have easy going roommates so far. There are quite a few young people in the new group of stage one folk and I like them a lot. It's going to be a very good next nine weeks I think

This break at home has been so refreshing! I got really excited as soon as i saw the rocky mountains from the air plane on my way here and it was like a breath of fresh air when i saw the rivers and drank Chilliwack water again. My family greeted me at the airport with lots of hugs and flowers from my brothers girlfriend. The first thing Alma said to me was "Lise, you don't smell very good" It was good to be home. My grandmas funeral was really lovely and I think everyone did a good job of telling people about what kind of a person she was. It was even recorded so we can watch it later (http://www.dignityabbotsford.com/ Doris Marie Pearce) 
As sad as this whole thing has been, it was good timing because there was a three week break between stages 2 and 3 anyways and it was time for my family to go on our annual vacation to Seaside Oregon! I'm very proud of my grandpa to take on that first family tradition so soon after her death. He did very well though I could tell it was hard for him. Everyone had a really nice time. The weather was fantastic and we stayed at a house right on the ocean. Beautiful! I spent alot of time with my siblings and my cousins running around on the beach, chasing waves and seagulls. My sister found a jelly fish washed up on shore! 
I was struggling to pay for stage three again this month. I was about $1000 short but lots of opportunities came up for me to earn money and more people sponsored me again so I was able to get enough money and then some! God is so good :)

Thanks for the prayers and support!

 I am coming back to Canada in the next couple of days. My Grandma died and so I am coming back to be with my family and attend the funeral. I will be home for a month and then come back for stage 3 in October. I am really excited to come home and see everyone and I am going to trust God to provide everything I need in the next few weeks. He has always come through and I believe he will continue to be faithful. He knew this was going to happen and He is with us in our grieving and He has even given me peace and a joy that can only come from Him. I am so thankful for all the support I've received here. Please pray for my family. Please also pray for me so that I can be a blessing to them when I come home.


Here are some of the pictures from my baptism. It was a really special time.

I'm getting baptised on Tuesday! I should have done this a long time ago but I kept putting it off. Also I was scared to be baptised into a specific denomination. Now I just want because that's what Jesus tells us to do. I'm really excited. Please pray for me.

I went to London last weekend with my friend Tina and stayed with her lovely family there. I learnt how to eat African food with my hands and what threading is. On monday I bought a travel card and toured around London by myself and I only got lost once! I saw St. Pauls cathedral, the Parliament buildings, and Big Ben. I also did a little bit of christmas shopping. This weekend I'm going away again to stay with another friend but she doesn't live too far away this time. It's really good to get away from Pierrepont every once in a while. Not that I don't like being here but it's good to be reminded that there's a real world out there sometimes. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do on the next break. I will need to be careful on how much I spend because I was looking at my finances the other day and realised I'm about £1000 short for stage 3! I will be praying a lot and ask that you pray for me as well. I totally believe that the Lord will provide for me because I feel like I am meant to do stage 3 but I will ask for prayer anyways. Thank you!

 

Here are some of the fun things I've been doing since stage 2 started

 Durring creativity week we did messy painting. I smeared most of this with my hands. Fun!






This interesting device was on a kids playground. It was very fast and made me sick but now I know...

 This has become a regular routine in the evenings. Quite often we will jam after dinner untill late at night just worshiping God and enjoying eachothers company and skills. I've been getting better at guitar and even had one lesson on the piano.

 Riding Harry the horse. My roommate was laughing because of the nervous sounds I was making.


Pyramid-ing...
Everyone seemed really small from up there

 Birthday dinner at an indian restaurant for our indian friend. Most things were very spicy and we had alot of rice and naan bread. He ate with his fingers.

France 2012

I've lost the cable for my camera so I don't have any pictures from France for now but they will be up eventually. We've been back on stage 2 for a few weeks already and so far it's been quite good. We had a creativity unit where we just made stuff. I painted a big butterfly with my fingers and made a cool collage of a tree and decorated a lot of cupcakes then ate them. We also did another ministry workshop (which I stubbornly refused to minister in or receive ministry). I'm struggling with prayer ministry at the moment. I've also made a lot of new friends who are new on stage 2 and they are all very lovely. I'm enjoying the different kinds of people still and starting to pick up on the similarities of personalities related to the different nations. I have the same room and roommates from last term which I'm happy about. Also the swimming pool is open now so I've really been enjoying that. I will update again soon when I have pictures! Bless you.

France is awesome. We've been having really hot weather and most of the work has been outside which I love. Mostly weeding and cutting the lawn and watering stuff. I'm working with two very nice girls. One is from Taiwan, she has just been travelling around Europe for a year, the other is a french teacher from Ireland on holiday. Unfortunately I haven't learnt much french from her. I've been eating a lot of french bread because it's weird here to not have bread on the table for every single meal, and a lot of goat cheese (which is the speciality of this region and very yummy.) I went to a wine tasting festival in the next village over. Since I don't like wine I thought it was gross but we had a very nice and traditional french meal of french bread and cheese! I'm having a good time here but I am still looking foreward to going back to England to start stage 2.

The travel Plan:
Take a taxie to Heathrow airport, fly to Paris (exchange money there), Take a train from Paris to Poitiers From Poitiers take a taxie to Chatellerault, From there, call Stephen, the owner of the castle to come pick me up.

What actually happened:

I got a taxi with a friend to the airport. We arrived at 6:00 and my flight didn’t leave until 12:45 so I sat in a French café at the airport to have breakfast to get a bit of a feel for France. When it was time I boarded. Everything went fine, even the plain was comfortable, best flight I’ve ever had. After landing in Paris I had an hour and a half to get through the really long country entry thing to get my passport stamped, collect my guitar, get a train ticket and get to the terminal. Originally the plan was that I was going to exchange my pounds for euros at the airport but it turned out that I was too focused on getting to the terminal on time and it slipped my mind. When I remembered, I thought no problem, I’ll exchange it at my destination (which I thought was another airport) So I got on the train, sat in the wrong seat three times, and waited another two hours to get to Poitiers, which turns out, is not an airport, it’s a train station… duh! So I walked around for a bit, no idea where I was and everything was written in French. I asked around to find someone who spoke English. Eventually I found an information desk but they didn’t speak English very well either. “Where can I exchange currency?.... Change money?” I had to rub my fingers together. They just shook their head so I tried to ask around where I could find a bank.  I got to the bank and the lady that spoke English there said it was no longer possible to exchange money. So here I was in the middle of France, the wrong money, no credit card, the heaviest back pack and guitar case in the world, going on three hours of sleep and hardly any food, I couldn’t read anything and the only person who spoke my language so far couldn’t help me.  I walked outside and sat on a bench and pulled out my laptop to try and get Wi-Fi from somewhere. Since my credit card company didn’t know that I was in France yet I was going to attempt to contact someone who could pretend to be me and call them. Unfortunately all the Wi-Fi connections I could connect to needed a code to use. I matched one connection name with a building across the street. It was a hotel restaurant and bar so I walked over and asked if I could use their Wi-Fi. They didn’t speak English so I had to make gestures with my hands. “NO MONEY… (I rubbed my fingers together) NEED TO USE WIFI… COMPUTER… (Pretended to type) All they said was “it is not possible.” OK so I walked next door and asked another man who didn’t speak English. He obviously wasn’t able to help me either because he couldn’t understand a word I was saying so I walked outside again and sat at table to think. I pulled out my laptop again and kept trying to get a signal from somewhere, no luck. I had my guitar with me and was thinking I could start busking. That would have been my last resort because if I got in trouble I wouldn’t know what anyone was saying. At that point I thought it was a good time to pray. “Father, I really need you right now. I know you can get me out of this, please make a way.”  That was my simple prayer, and not even a minute later the man from the bar came out and started saying something I didn’t understand. I though he was mad that I was still trying to get Wi-Fi. “I’m sorry, should I sit somewhere else?  I’m just trying to find a signal from anywhere… ARE YOU HAPPY?” (Used my fingers to make a smile) He waved his arm at me and walked away and I thought that was the end of it. Then he came back a minute later with a mobile phone and handed it to me. “Um… Hello?” I don’t know who it was and I don’t think the person on the other end really knew what was going on either but at least they spoke broken English. I tried my best to explain my situation and gave the man back his phone then I pointed Chatellerault which I had written on a piece of paper. He wrote next to it 60km. Then I pulled out my pounds and he beckoned me back into the hotel. There was another man at the bar with a drink there while he was trying to figure out currency exchange on his computer and he was watching us for a while. Then he asked if he could buy me a drink. I said no thanks, totally not interested in anything except getting to Chatellerault. It took me a couple seconds to realise that he had asked me in English.  “You speak English! Thank goodness!” So he was our translator and the owner and I exchanged money from his till. Then I asked what the cheapest way was to get to Chatellerault and they said the train but it was getting very late and the trains were doing their last routs. The man who spoke English said he would run over to the train station for me and see if there were any left. Full of gratitude and packed up my stuff from the table. He came back and handed me a ticket and said “you’re in luck, there’s one left.” I couldn’t believe it, he bought it for me. “You can either call it a blessing or just the kindness of a stranger.” That’s what he said. Close to tears I gave him a hug and thanked him. “Ok, hold it together.” He said and walked away. I walked back to the train station. I still couldn’t read anything that was written on the ticket or anything that was written on the schedules on the walls. I could only match up numbers and names but that didn’t really help me. So I prayed again. “Father thank you for coming through for me, now don’t let me mess this up.” I walked up to a group of people. “Does anybody here speak English?!” I got the attention of a group of young guys and they were all laughing but they helped me. They told me that it isn’t a train, it’s a bus and they even escorted me to the bus stop and waited with me to make sure I got on it. My bus arrived at 8:30 and I got into Chatellerault around 9:15 where someone let me use their mobile phone to call Stephen, the owner or the chateau. He was going to meet me at 10:00 in front of the bus station so I found a nearby restaurant and ordered the only thing I could understand on the menu while I waited. Pizza.

I can't get over how good God is to me. It blows me away how much he takes care of me and it's a good thing because I tend to not think things through all the time but he knows that that is the way I was made and he looks after me. Amazing! Throughout this whole England Adventure the theme verse for me has been Philippians 4:4-7.

⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

It was sent to me from a member of staff at Pierrepont even before I had confirmed I was going to do NETS. It was also given to me more than once durring various ministry sessions and a couple times people have asked me "hey what's that verse that goes be anxious for nothing...?" Then I tell them because it's always in my head. Well this verse has definately been relevent and important in my life and especially yesterday when I didn't know what was going to happen to me but if you trust in the Lord, and look to him always, he will be there.

Here are some pictures of this beautiful place I am now and my own flat! Mine is the middle window in the picture on the left.

This weekend I ministered in my first healing retreat, which involved two whole days of listening to the guest for a very long time about their life, then trying to ask all the right questions to bring out key points, alot of praying, and trying to think of useful scripture. I don't think ministering is particularly my calling in life but I'm glad that I know how to do it if I ever need to. I have more of a heart for teaching and setting an example rather than the kind of ministry they do here, which is very exhausting! I'm still loving the course though and still learning tons.


There is only one week left in stage 1 and during the break I'm going to go to France to stay in a castle! It's a bed and breakfast chateau in a beautiful rural area of France. I found out about it through a website that has lists of places you can travel and stay in exchange for service. I will be doing 6 hours of work (gardening, cleaning, cooking, whatever there is to do) from monday to friday in exchange for a free room, food, and weekends off to explore! It's in a place called Loire Valley which I've heard is beautiful. I'm very excited.

Tomorrow I have my last appointment at the hospital. One last test and then that should be the end of that chapter of my England adventure aside from the medication and diet, which has been working very well. I really appreciate all the prayers. The diagnosis terned out to be colitis, which will stick with me for a while but it is manageable and not actually that big a deal if I take care of myself well enough, which I will!

Thanks for all your prayers! I am out of the hospital, feeling much better, and just had the most glorious bike ride through the country roads. God has been so good to me! This weekend we are receiving a conference on the fathers love for us and I feel like my spirit is more open to receiving what he has for me than during the healing retreat or other events. He is opening my eyes to lies that I have been believing about myself for years and to how special I really am to him. I find that in worship I can offer more to him than I could before and I feel his presence amoung us. Today he spoke to me through somebody I just met. I had just started a conversation with this person and hadn't even told them anything about myself when they just said out of the blue "I'm overwhelmed with what God has done in your life, you are not the same person you were two months ago and I know that God will use you to touch many lives." I was shocked! I didn't even know this guy, and we were actually talking about something totally different, but I felt my spirit jump. Things are getting really exciting here.

I got about two hours of sleep my first night at the hospital. They have done some really uncomfortable tests, jabbed me with a bunch of needles and gave me a lot of drugs. All my doctors and nurses are really nice though so I'm quite happy about that and my roommates here are all old ladies and they are all very nice. I've also enjoyed what I've been able to eat here. They have really good fruit ice cream. I have no idea how long I will have to stay here for. They said it's too early to tell. In spite of everything, I am filled with joy because I know that nothing can get to me that doesn't first go through my father in heaven. When I listen to worship music on my computer I get really giddy and happy. It has never been so powerful and true to me before. Praise God for answering my prayers! Do not worry about me. He has got it all under control.

Good news: I figured out why I've been sick! praise God
Bad news: I'm in the hospital and being mercilessly tested and injected with stuff. Please pray I will get well soon and my bowels will stop being inflamed. I'm sure I will and God has been so good to me through everything! wow

more good news I was emitted on the day we were supposed to learn about sex and sexuality at Pierrepont. I will still have to listen to the tape but I got to get out of the awkward classroom setting.

So yesterday I ministered to someone for the first time and it wasn't as bad as I had expected. I was easily able to sympathise with them and ask them questions about their issue that they had brought up. However, I was convinced there was nothing wrong with the issue they had brought up and when everyone expected me to deliver this person from it I said no and handed it over to someone else. What surprised me is that when this person was being delivered from this issue, they manifested! I couldn't believe it. I think I've got to sort some things out with God because I was obviously wrong about that. It's hard to learn new things here because I always feel like I have to be making sure that it's true and bibically correct. I don't want to do ministry wrong but at the same time I feel like I would do things differently if I were ministering at home. It just feels very structured here.

I can't seem to figure out this stomach thing. It's not the food, everything I've tried hasn't made a difference and I've been getting good sleep and exercise. I went to the doctor and they said there's nothing wrong with me but I will go again. I'm sure it will go away soon though. I WILL get better!

I went to London again and saw some real live palace guards! they were marching and everything. It's the queens Diamond Jubilee, whatever that means, and pretty soon the Olympics will be in London as well!

I had my healing retreat over the last couple of days. I found it quite frustrating to be honest. My prayer ministers were very nice ladies but I didn't feel like they ministered into the most important parts of my life. We spent a great deal of time talking about yoga, which was annoying, and I bombarded them with questions about things I had ticked on my occult checklist like trick or treating, Harry Potter, and having de ja vu experiences. I think I was testing their Patience at times. I would not want to have ministered to me if I were them. They didn't answer all my questions properly but they did really well and I was deeply touched a couple of times. I think what I leaned from that experience is not to come to God expecting certain things to happen if he has other things in mind. Not everything happens at once and as my good friend Jos would always say "It's a journey". Alas, I had no manifestation but I did feel a bit lighter at the end of everything. Also, it was good to hear the testimonies of my friends from the retreat.

I am still quite sick and I'm not so sure now whether it is something I'm eating or not because it is getting worse and happens even when I haven't eaten for a long time. Please continue to pray for me.

My first trip to London was mostly all awesome. It was pouring rain for the first few hours and I was totally focused on finding the perfect birthday gift for Maggie. It cleared up later on and although I couldn't find a sea creature stuffed animal with a Buckingham Palace guard suit I did get her something that I was satisfied with. After attending the loudest, most amusing church I've ever been to, we walked around London until it got dark and we crossed London Bridge just as the sun was setting. It was absolutely gorgeous.


I love being here more everyday. This week we have been learning about soul ties, our generational line and what gets passed down to us, and inner healing and emotional wholeness. The good thing about these this is that everything they are teaching us is backed up by bible scripture and we get loads of notes with lists of verse references. They even give us time to work things out with God by ourselves. Everybody is so supportive of each other too. Apparently our group of stage 1 trainees are very polite and calm compared to normal. That's alright, I love them all. My roommates are also awesome and we are very good friends.


I do have some bad news to report, however. Something I'm eating has been making me sick for a couple weeks or almost since I got here and I don't know what it is. I'm trying to not eat any dairy to see if that helps at all and I'll keep experimenting. For now, that is my prayer request. Thank you so much!

My holiday is over... teaching started this week. We have been learning about the foundations of our faith like creation, the beginning, human nature, body, soul and spirit, authority and power, etc. We got homework which I wasn't expecting which is to write a page on what Jesus accomplished by dying on the cross. I've really been enjoying the teachings and I really want to savour every minute while I'm here but the problem is that the chairs we are sitting in are so comfortable and the room is so warm that it is hard at times not to fall asleep. It doesn't help that they feed us really big hot meals for lunch and dinner. I have actually been struggling with the food here because there is so much of it and it is all delicious. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are buffets and there are so many options to chose from that I usually end up filling my whole plate. On top of that there are two tea breaks during the day which is coffee/tea and biscuits (cookies). I feel full all the time!

My friend took me to the little pond down the road the other day and it was so beautiful. I think I lost my room key there though... didn't take me very long. Anyway it seems like wherever I go I am surrounded by ancient buildings and things. I am excited about all the history here and I love to explore and climb on things that were climbed on by people in the 1800's. There are so many castles here. Real live ones!

My first weekend at Pierrepont was very quiet and relaxing. There weren't many people on site because it was Easter weekend and NETS trainees aren't supposed to arrive until later this week. Everyone here has been so nice and welcoming and even though there aren't many people yet, there are about twenty different countries represented by the people who are here. I've really enjoyed having conversations with them and hearing about their home. It's especially fun when they don't speak English very well because then we try different words to understand each other. I was very fortunate because I was offered a dormitory shared by four people rather than eight if I would do a small amount of chores around the place during the week. I was happy to accept that offer. My roommates aren't here yet so I've had this big room to myself over the weekend. As for the food, it isn't as bad as everyone said it would be. It isn't that much different than in Canada except that occasionally someone will make a salad or soup or something that is from their country. 
So far so good!

I would like to say thank you to everyone who have supported me financially and prayerfully for my journey. I am so excited to see how this NETS oppertunity will shape me spiritually and probably change my life and I couldn't have done it without the help of my friends and family. Thank you so much for caring about my faith. I am just thrilled to see how God is providing for me. I think it confirms that this is the right step for me to take at this time in my life.